Family Research Council Sued for Sexual Harassment and Discrimination by Former Official
In order to make it appear as if they actually care what the womenfolk think, fanatical religious right groups like the Family Research Council like to create token positions for women within the company, with lofty sounding titles like “Director of Women’s and Reproductive Health.” Who could ever be opposed to that? What war on women?
So it’s kind of embarrassing, but also highly revealing, when the former Director of Women’s and Reproductive Health for the Family Research Council sues the organization for vindictively firing her when she filed a sexual harassment complaint against her sexist pig boss.
According to court documents first obtained and reported by journalist Evan Gahr, former FRC employee Moira Gaul, 42, filed a complaint in 2009 with the District of Columbia Human Rights Commission in which she accused her supervisor of gender discrimination. She claimed that her boss, the director of the Center for Human Life and Bioethics at the time, referred to the use of birth control pills as “whoring around,” addressed emails to her with the words “hi cutie,” pressured her to attend parties, and referred to her as a “young, attractive woman.”
“His attitude toward me and other women was rude, belittling, and at times, angry,” she wrote in the complaint.
Gahr identified Gaul’s former supervisor as prominent anti-abortion lawyer William Saunders, who now works at the anti-abortion group Americans United for Life. Saunders and his attorney, William J. Hickey, did not respond to requests for comment on the case.
The FRC fired Gaul shortly after she filed the complaint, citing a loss in federal funding for abstinence — Gaul’s area of expertise — and the need for someone with more experience on abortion issues. Gaul claims the FRC also retroactively canceled her health insurance for the time that she was on short-term disability for systemic lupus.